One of the biggest mistakes that I ever made as a new parent is not scheduling my newborn photo session early enough! Well that and many other things I am sure. When my babies were born I was working full-time as an art teacher and running my photography business part-time. I had never photographed newborns but thought "how hard can it be?" Well, an emergency c-section made it so that I was in no condition to even think about taking my brand new babies pictures! I never made an appointment with another photographer and the ones that I loved were already booked. So alas I have no professional photos of my babies as newborns (that's right, I didn't learn after my first child either apparently). Sure I have photos that I took on a day to day basis but what I wouldn't give to have professional, adorable pictures of my kids when they were brand new!
So, this brings me to helping you and letting you know a little bit about how and when you should schedule your expectant child's newborn photo session. When it comes to booking your session, there are a lot of questions about how the process works. Since your new little peanut isn’t here yet, it’s hard to figure out a schedule. Here is how I handle scheduling a session for your expectant bundle.
Contact me during your second trimester or the beginning of your third trimester to set a date for the session. We will set a date for around five days after your due date. However, we all know that babies like to come on their own schedule so about a month before your due date I will begin to contact you to see how everything is progressing. It is your responsibility to keep in touch with me and let me know when you new little bundle of joy arrives! Once the baby is here, we will create a final date for your photo session. It is all about communication between you and me!
I would want to photograph baby in his/her first two weeks of life. I have found that the ideal window is around 5-10 days old. Photos can also be taken as baby gets older but the older baby gets the less likely they are to fall into the deep sleep that we want so that we can get baby in cute little poses. Plus babies start to really stretch out and don't stay curled up in that little ball that we all adore. That is just my favorite!
I work a little differently than most photographers because I come to your home for your newborn session! So no bringing baby out into the cold weather. No trying to make sure that you have everything packed up that you need. No worrying about getting out of the house on time! I come right to your door. This is my clients favorite thing because it takes so much stress away from the experience. I include 30 miles of travel in my packages but will go further with just a small mileage fee. I have my own unique style of combining lifestyle images and posed portraits (created with my portable backdrop setup). I enjoy using objects and locations from your home to personalize your images and make them truly unique to you.
What else is included in my newborn sessions?
-2-3 hour session time with breaks to accommodate meeting all of babies needs
-images of the newborn with parents or siblings
-approximately 40-50 images presented in a personal online proofing gallery for viewing, downloading and ordering
-digital negatives and rights to print
-professional image editing and basic retouching
I hope that this helps you understand a little bit about how a newborn session with me will work and when you should schedule your appointment! Please contact me here with any additional questions or to book your appointment. :)
